What Makes This Tenacious D Song SLAY?? | Music Theory Breakdown

Today we’re gonna take a deep dive into a song that lives up to its name: “The Metal” by Tenacious D. We’ll use some music theory knowledge to uncover the secrets of what makes this song sound sooo metal. To do so, we’ll break down the ultra-heavy main riff of the song. Understanding the theory of a song helps you better understand how the song was written. Therefore, these types of exercises will help you when writing your own music because you’ll be able to work with a language that you’re familiar with. In the end, I’ll show you how to take this song to the next level.

The Main Riff: Section 1

This song starts with a classic open E power chord (E5). The construction of this chord consists of the root, 5th, and root again. It's important to establish the chord right away as it will likely determine what follows.

Following the E5 chord is a G note. The G note is a clue that this may be some sort of minor scale since it’s a minor 3rd interval from the root of the E5 chord. Plus 99.9% of metal is based on minor scales, so that also helps us narrow it down.

Next, let's try to figure out the scale used in the lick that follows. The lick could be the Aeolian mode given the notes we have by themselves (E, G, A, B, and C). However, the next section of the riff provides stronger evidence that the Phrygian mode is actually what is being used. This is because we end up seeing an F note, which is in the E Phrygian mode but NOT in the E minor scale.

E Minor Scale/Aeolian Mode
NOT likely what was intended for this riff:

E Phrygian Mode
MOST LIKELY what was intended for this riff:

The Main Riff: Section 2

Next, we see another power chord: the F5 chord. Its construction is the same as the E5 chord (root, 5th, and root), but all notes are a half step higher.

Going from an E5 chord to an F5 chord is very common in metal. It's amazing how you can get such dark, thunderous, haunting, and powerful sounds with these two simple power chords. This largely explains why this riff is so heavy.

The F5 chord paired with the notes that make up the lick that follows it (G, F, E, and D) gives us a taste of the Lydian mode.

F Lydian Mode
F to F/Octave to Octave:

F, G, A, B, C, D, E, F

Let's Take It To The Next Level & Make It Our Own

The first way we can take this song to the next level is to harmonize the licks in thirds.  In the video, you will see that I create two guitar parts and play them over each other simultaneously. We can keep the chords and that quick G note on the low E string the same. The notes that follow will be played three scale degrees higher for the dual guitar part.

Next, we can find ways to break up the pauses. Pauses are a harmonious part of music because music is defined as organized sound and silence. In addition, pauses are great because they can make the sound that follows hit way harder, making the music more dramatic. Pauses also give us opportunities for us to fill in the gaps with little tricks. One way to do that is to use natural harmonics. To achieve this and create a sweet, high-pitched ringing sound, I gently graze my fretting hand's ring finger over the fret wire of the 5th fret.

If you have a whammy bar, you can also break up the pauses by performing flutters or dive bombs as demonstrated in the video. 

Conclusion

Familiarizing yourself with these different modes in action is a great way to enhance your creativity for songwriting. Each mode has its own special flavor, and you can bring in any flavors you want once you know how to use them. In this case, we got to see how music theory plays a role in giving this Tenacious D riff its metal sound. Would you say this is the most metal riff ever?

Watch the full lesson here: What Makes This Tenacious D Song SLAY?? | Music Theory Breakdown